Madden 19 Release Date

The Madden 19 release date is August 10th. This is much earlier than we’ve seen in previous years and it may be due to every other game pushing their schedule up by about a month.

With the Madden 19 Hall of Fame Edition, gamers can play on August 7th. This special edition includes Terrell Owns on the cover and offers up extra bonus items. GameStop already lists Madden NFL 19 for pre-order on Xbox One and PS4 and we expect to see other retailers join in soon.

EA surprised gamers by announcing the Madden 19 PC release this year, that is coming alongside the new Origin Access Premiere subscription plan. This will include Anthem, Battlefield V, FIFA 19 and early access.

EA Access members can play Madden 19 on August 2nd on Xbox One. There is no EA Access for the PS4. This used to be the full game, but last year we saw that only a small portion of the Longshot story mode was available in this early release. If you buy EA Access now, you can play Madden 18 right now at no extra charge.

Madden 19 Price

There are two Madden 19 editions and prices. Don’t expect any more super special editions.

Madden 19 is $59.99 and the Madden 19 Hall of Fame Edition is $79.99.

If you want another Elite Legends Player, you will likely be able to get a $19.99 DLC from GameStop or in the game to upgrade or add another Legend to your MUT team.

Madden 19 Features & Graphics

this is an example of the new Madden 19 graphics.

We saw the Madden 18 game arrive with Xbox One X enhanced graphics this year and we will definitely see better graphics on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X with the Madden 19 release. This means you will play in 4K and you will have HDR support, which helps make the stadiums and players look more realistic. Expect to see EA build on the foundation they had in Madden 18. It helps that Madden shares the engine with FIFA and Battlefield games, so progress in one game can carry over to other games.

“We’ve worked directly with community members on Madden NFL 19 to make a deeper, more immersive football game that gives players what they want – more choice, more control, and key enhancements to fan-favorite modes,” said Carlos Guerrero, Sr. Producer on Madden NFL 19. “Real Player Motion technology combined with all new franchise-building tools like Positional Archetypes and the return of Custom Draft Classes are features that football fans will find fun and engaging. Madden NFL 19 steps up the authentic football experience in so many ways.”

EA details three major upgrades for Madden 19 in their latest announcement. This is to the player control, Madden Ultimate Team and MUT Squads and to Connected Franchise Mode. Here’s what’s new in Madden 19.

Madden 19 Player Control & Upgrades

In Madden 19 you will take advantage of Real Player Motion to get more control of the player. EA says this will deliver, “realistic character movements and animation variety, creating authentic movement unique to positions and body types that deliver game-changing control and precision on the field.”

With this new feature, you will be able to better hit the holes in the D line and seamlessly run for more yardage. This sounds like an excellent upgrade if EA is able to deliver on this promise.

Madden Ultimate Team Changes for Madden 19

There is a new Solo Battles mode for Madden Ultimate Team. This is a reward-driven game mode that will put you up against other players as you complete single player challenges to get the best rewards and battle for the top spot.

MUT Squads returns and you can now team up with two other friends to take n the computer in tough MUT Squads challenges that will force you to work harder than ever.

EA shares details on new Madden 19 features.

Madden 19 Connected Franchise Mode

“A longtime favorite mode in the Madden community is Connected Franchise. This mode gives players the ultimate NFL experience. With Madden NFL 19, in addition to controlling the NFL team of your choosing, you’ll be able to adjust the roster to completely fit your scheme and gameplan thanks to Player Positional Archetypes, which help determine which players are the best fit. Improve how well your roster and scheme match as you earn XP and spend Skill Points to boost specific skill sets.”

Additional franchise upgrades include;

“In Madden NFL 19 Franchise Mode, players can choose the offensive and defensive schemes that best fit their playstyle as they compete in single player and/or multiplayer seasons. Schemes are also linked to a new intuitive progression system – based on authentic positional archetypes – that give virtual coaches the tools and the big decision to either win now or build their squad for the future. NFL fans will also have a top community-requested feature with the introduction of Custom Draft Class Creator where fans can create their own draft classes featuring players from the past and present for use in Franchise.”

The Longshot Story mode saw at least 50% of players try the new mode, which means it will likely come back with a second season. We’re hoping this is a brand new story and that EA is able to build in more player controls to the game to liven it up some. EA didn’t go into detail about this feature yet. Here’s our Madden 19 wishlist.

Madden Ultimate Team in Madden 19 will remain a major focus as it is a huge source of revenue for EA. The Ultimate Team in Madden 18 felt better overall, addressing many of the tasks that took too long to do in the management side while playing Madden 17, but ultimately was very grindy for the first few months. If EA plans on keeping the grind as a “feature” we hope they are able to streamline playing multiple games and challenges without exiting a game, picking a game, pressing a twice and then sitting through an intro. It would also be nice if the announcers didn’t talk like it is the first quarter while you are in a 4th quarter situation.

EA’s longtime Madden Creative Director Rex Dickson left EA Tiburon in May, which could change the shape of future releases. It’s not clear how much this will impact the direction of Madden 19, which is already well into development. Originally it looked like Mike Young, who headed up the Longshot mode last year, was taking over, but a new report suggests Carlos Guerrero is in the role. Guerrero previously worked on Overwatch and World of Warcraft at Blizzard before he joined EA in late 2017.

One other area to look at is better player AI, as your team will become a bigger role in the success or loss of a match.

Here’s a look at the things you won’t see coming to Madden 19. The NFL has final say on the content and they are very strict about new features and even the use of the word concussion.

Play Madden 19 Early

You can now pre-register for EA Play which takes place June 9-11th in Hollywood, California. If selected you will be able to attend and play Madden 19 before the general public.

If selected in late June, you will be able to go to EA Play and get to play Madden, FIFA 19, the new Battlefield, Anthem and other EA games well ahead of the official release date.

Madden 19 Cover

One of the Madden 19 cover athletes.

After years of voting, EA decided to put Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski on the cover of Madden 18 and Madden 17 with no player vote. EA may continue the trend this year, picking a player for the cover instead of allowing fans to choose.

EA announced Terrell Owens as the Madden 19 cover athlete for the special Hall of Fame Edition. They will announce a second cover athlete in the near future.

Madden 19 Editions

There are two Madden 19 editions that you can pre-order. A standard Madden 19 edition that is $59.99 and a Madden 19 Hall of Fame Edition that is $79.99. There is a chance that you will see a special digital-only edition with even more bonus items, but that is unclear at this stage since EA dropped that option in 2017.

The Madden 19 Special Edition includes the following bonus items;

Early Access

Elite Legends Players

Other Goodies

12 Gold Team Fantasy Packs

1 Madden 19 Base Elite Cover Athlete (TBA)

1 Elite Player from your favorite team

1 Training Pack

2 Custom Uniforms

This is listed as a pre-order bonus, but in the past these were all included even if you ordered after the release date.

if you buy the special edition you get bonus items.

Madden 19 Demo

Do not expect a Madden 19 demo that allows you to try the game for free ahead of the release date. There is also no need for a Madden 19 beta, unless EA shakes things up dramatically.

Instead, you will be able to buy EA Access for $5 a month or $30 a year and you can expect to play Madden 19 five days early. We’ll have more on this as EA addresses the inclusion of Madden 19 in EA Access Trials, likely at E3 in June.

Madden 19 Consoles

We know that you will be able to play Madden 19 on the PS4 and Xbox One. This also goes for the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X.

You will not be able to play Madden 19 on the Xbox 360 or PS3. EA stopped making Madden for these consoles and there is no reason to bring it back. If you own one of these and want to play a new Madden game you will need to upgrade.

EA did not include the Nintendo Switch in the announcement, so don’t expect to play Madden 19 on the Switch.